Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Master \Mas"ter\, n. [OE. maistre, maister, OF. maistre, mestre,
   F. ma[^i]tre, fr. L. magister, orig. a double comparative
   from the root of magnus great, akin to Gr. ?. Cf. {Maestro},
   {Magister}, {Magistrate}, {Magnitude}, {Major}, {Mister},
   {Mistress}, {Mickle}.]
   1. A male person having another living being so far subject
      to his will, that he can, in the main, control his or its
      actions; -- formerly used with much more extensive
      application than now.
      (a) The employer of a servant.
      (b) The owner of a slave.
      (c) The person to whom an apprentice is articled.
      (d) A sovereign, prince, or feudal noble; a chief, or one
          exercising similar authority.
      (e) The head of a household.
      (f) The male head of a school or college.
      (g) A male teacher.
      (h) The director of a number of persons performing a
          ceremony or sharing a feast.
      (i) The owner of a docile brute, -- especially a dog or
          horse.
      (j) The controller of a familiar spirit or other
          supernatural being.

   2. One who uses, or controls at will, anything inanimate; as,
      to be master of one's time. --Shak.

            Master of a hundred thousand drachms. --Addison.

            We are masters of the sea.            --Jowett
                                                  (Thucyd. ).

   3. One who has attained great skill in the use or application
      of anything; as, a master of oratorical art.

            Great masters of ridicule.            --Maccaulay.

            No care is taken to improve young men in their own
            language, that they may thoroughly understand and be
            masters of it.                        --Locke.

   4. A title given by courtesy, now commonly pronounced
      m[i^]ster, except when given to boys; -- sometimes written
      {Mister}, but usually abbreviated to Mr.

   5. A young gentleman; a lad, or small boy.

            Where there are little masters and misses in a
            house, they are impediments to the diversions of the
            servants.                             --Swift.

   6. (Naut.) The commander of a merchant vessel; -- usually
      called captain. Also, a commissioned officer in the navy
      ranking next above ensign and below lieutenant; formerly,
      an officer on a man-of-war who had immediate charge, under
      the commander, of sailing the vessel.

   7. A person holding an office of authority among the
      Freemasons, esp. the presiding officer; also, a person
      holding a similar office in other civic societies.

   {Little masters}, certain German engravers of the 16th
      century, so called from the extreme smallness of their
      prints.

   {Master in chancery}, an officer of courts of equity, who
      acts as an assistant to the chancellor or judge, by
      inquiring into various matters referred to him, and
      reporting thereon to the court.

   {Master of arts}, one who takes the second degree at a
      university; also, the degree or title itself, indicated by
      the abbreviation M. A., or A. M.

   {Master of the horse}, the third great officer in the British
      court, having the management of the royal stables, etc. In
      ceremonial cavalcades he rides next to the sovereign.

   {Master of the rolls}, in England, an officer who has charge
      of the rolls and patents that pass the great seal, and of
      the records of the chancery, and acts as assistant judge
      of the court. --Bouvier. --Wharton.

   {Past master}, one who has held the office of master in a
      lodge of Freemasons or in a society similarly organized.
      

   {The old masters}, distinguished painters who preceded modern
      painters; especially, the celebrated painters of the 16th
      and 17th centuries.

   {To be master of one's self}, to have entire self-control;
      not to be governed by passion.

   {To be one's own master}, to be at liberty to act as one
      chooses without dictation from anybody.

   Note: Master, signifying chief, principal, masterly,
         superior, thoroughly skilled, etc., is often used
         adjiectively or in compounds; as, master builder or
         master-builder, master chord or master-chord, master
         mason or master-mason, master workman or
         master-workman, master mechanic, master mind, master
         spirit, master passion, etc.

               Throughout the city by the master gate.
                                                  --Chaucer.

   {Master joint} (Geol.), a quarryman's term for the more
      prominent and extended joints traversing a rock mass.

   {Master key}, a key adapted to open several locks differing
      somewhat from each other; figuratively, a rule or
      principle of general application in solving difficulties.
      

   {Master lode} (Mining), the principal vein of ore.

   {Master mariner}, an experienced and skilled seaman who is
      certified to be competent to command a merchant vessel.

   {Master sinew} (Far.), a large sinew that surrounds the hough
      of a horse, and divides it from the bone by a hollow
      place, where the windgalls are usually seated.

   {Master singer}. See {Mastersinger}.

   {Master stroke}, a capital performance; a masterly
      achievement; a consummate action; as, a master stroke of
      policy.

   {Master tap} (Mech.), a tap for forming the thread in a screw
      cutting die.

   {Master touch}.
      (a) The touch or skill of a master. --Pope.
      (b) Some part of a performance which exhibits very
          skillful work or treatment. ``Some master touches of
          this admirable piece.'' --Tatler.

   {Master work}, the most important work accomplished by a
      skilled person, as in architecture, literature, etc.;
      also, a work which shows the skill of a master; a
      masterpiece.

   {Master workman}, a man specially skilled in any art,
      handicraft, or trade, or who is an overseer, foreman, or
      employer.


      (b) Hence, an official or public document; a register; a
          record; also, a catalogue; a list.

                The rolls of Parliament, the entry of the
                petitions, answers, and transactions in
                Parliament, are extant.           --Sir M. Hale.

                The roll and list of that army doth remain.
                                                  --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.
      (c) A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form; as,
          a roll of carpeting; a roll of ribbon.
      (d) A cylindrical twist of tobacco.

   4. A kind of shortened raised biscuit or bread, often rolled
      or doubled upon itself.

   5. (Naut.) The oscillating movement of a vessel from side to
      side, in sea way, as distinguished from the alternate rise
      and fall of bow and stern called pitching.

   6. A heavy, reverberatory sound; as, the roll of cannon, or
      of thunder.

   7. The uniform beating of a drum with strokes so rapid as
      scarcely to be distinguished by the ear.

   8. Part; office; duty; r[^o]le. [Obs.] --L'Estrange.

   {Long roll} (Mil.), a prolonged roll of the drums, as the
      signal of an attack by the enemy, and for the troops to
      arrange themselves in line.

   {Master of the rolls}. See under {Master}.

   {Roll call}, the act, or the time, of calling over a list
      names, as among soldiers.

   {Rolls of court}, {of parliament} (or of any public body),
      the parchments or rolls on which the acts and proceedings
      of that body are engrossed by the proper officer, and
      which constitute the records of such public body.

   {To call the roll}, to call off or recite a list or roll of
      names of persons belonging to an organization, in order to
      ascertain who are present or to obtain responses from
      those present.

   Syn: List; schedule; catalogue; register; inventory. See
        {List}.